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Friday, February 14, 2025

Analysis of Q4 CY24 DDoS Attacks: On the Rise & Larger Than Ever

In the latest report on global Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks that occurred during the fourth quarter of 2024, the cyber landscape has encountered a surge in DDoS attacks. The quarter also saw a startling increase in hyper-volumetric DDoS attacks (both in frequency and complexity), some of which exceeded 1 billion packets per second and 1 terabit per second (Tbps).  

The largest attack ever to be reported took place in October 2024 with a record 5.6 Tbps DDoS attack, which was launched by a Mirai-variant botnet. DDoS attacks are becoming increasingly short-lived – the October attack lasted only 80 seconds – to a point that it is impractical for a human to respond, analyze the traffic, and apply mitigations. 

Other key information noted from the fourth-quarter analysis includes: 

Top 3 sources of DDoS attacks 

  1. Indonesia 
  2. Hong Kong 
  3. Singapore 

Threat actor rankings 

  1. Competitors 
  2. State-level or state-sponsored attacker 
  3. Disgruntled customer/user 

Most attacked industries 

  1. Telecommunications, service providers, carriers 
  2. Internet 
  3. Marketing and advertising 
  4. Information technology and services 

The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices also has introduced new vulnerabilities. Ensuring any Internet-connected devices – wireless routers, networked security systems – are appropriately protected from exploitation is key moving forward. Cyber resilience will be essential for organizations, and automating defenses, layering security strategies and adopting advanced tools will have to be part of the cybersecurity plan as new threats emerge. 

Megan Norris
Megan Norris
Megan Norris has a unique combination of experience in writing and editing as well as law enforcement and homeland security that led to her joining Homeland Security Today staff in January 2025. She founded her company, Norris Editorial and Writing Services, following her 2018 retirement from the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), based on her career experience prior to joining the FAMS. Megan worked as a Communications Manager – handling public relations, media training, crisis communications and speechwriting, website copywriting, and more – for a variety of organizations, such as the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, Brookdale Living, and Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Upon becoming a Federal Air Marshal in 2006, Megan spent the next 12 years providing covert law enforcement for domestic and international missions. While a Federal Air Marshal, she also was selected for assignments such as Public Affairs Officer and within the Taskings Division based on her background in media relations, writing, and editing. She also became a certified firearms instructor, physical fitness instructor, legal and investigative instructor, and Glock and Sig Sauer armorer as a Federal Air Marshal Training Instructor. After retiring from FAMS, Megan obtained a credential as a Certified Professional Résumé Writer to assist federal law enforcement and civilian employees with their job application documents. In addition to authoring articles, drafting web copy, and copyediting and proofreading client submissions, Megan works with a lot of clients on résumés, cover letters, executive bios, SES packages, and interview preparation. As such, she presented “Creating Effective Job Application Documents for Female Law Enforcement and Civilian Career Advancement” at the 2024 Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE) Annual Leadership Conference in Washington, DC, and has been asked to return for the 2025 Annual Leadership Conference in Dallas. Megan holds a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications from Roosevelt University in Chicago, and a Bachelor of Arts in English/Journalism with a minor in Political Analysis from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

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